1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the design of electro-optic imaging systems, and more particularly, to the “end-to-end” design of systems which have constraints on the digital filters used in the digital image processing subsystem.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electro-optic imaging systems typically include an optical subsystem (e.g., a lens assembly), an electronic detector subsystem (e.g., CCD detector array) and a digital image processing subsystem (e.g., typically implemented in dedicated chips or software). Traditional methods for designing these systems generally involve two discrete stages. First, the optical subsystem is designed with the goal of forming a high quality intermediate optical image of the source (subject to cost, physical and other non-imaging constraints). Next, after the optical subsystem has been designed, the digital image processing subsystem is designed to compensate for remaining defects in the sampled intermediate optical image.
The two design stages typically occur with very little coordination between the optical designer and the image processing designer. The separation of these stages is a reflection of the significant differences between the fields of optics and image processing in their methods, tools, goals and constraints. For example, each field covers a large swath of potential applications but there typically is little overlap between the two fields other than the design of electro-optic imaging systems. The design of conventional microscopes, telescopes, eyeglasses, etc. typically does not consider any significant image processing. Likewise, areas of image processing such as compression, computer graphics, and image enhancement typically do not involve any significant optics. As a result, each field has evolved independent of the other and with its own unique terminology, best practices, and set of tools. In general, the familiarity required to master each of these domains hinders a unified perspective to designing electro-optic imaging systems. One important challenge to a unified perspective is the lack of a common language with which to describe the problems and approaches between the two distinct fields. One prominent example can be seen in the thinking about the fundamental conceptual elements associated with each field. Optical designers deal with rays of light and passive optical elements whereas image processors deal with bytes of information and active algorithms. The laws and constraints governing these two fundamental classes of entities differ in numerous ways.
One drawback to the traditional design approach is that synergies between the optical subsystem and the digital image processing subsystem may be overlooked. The optical designer creates the “best” optical subsystem without knowledge of the digital image processing subsystem. The image processor creates the “best” digital image processing subsystem without the ability to modify the previously designed optical subsystem. Both of these design tasks may proceed without taking advantage of knowledge about the characteristics of the source being imaged. These subsystems are then “glued” together to form the electro-optic imaging system. The concatenation of two independently designed “best” subsystems may not yield the “best” overall system. There may be unwanted interactions between the two independently designed subsystems and potential synergies between the two subsystems and/or with the source characteristics may go unrealized.
Thus, there is a need for design approaches based on an end-to-end design of the electro-optic imaging system, especially where the entire electro-optical system is considered as a whole, and designed for optimized performance.